1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to industrial vehicles such as forklift trucks and more particularly to a vehicle body construction for an industrical vehicle of the kind which is powered by a storage battery.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An example of a prior art vehicle body construction for an industrial vehicle of the above described kind is shown in FIG. 4. In the figure, a side frame is indicated by 20. Two side frames 20 are arranged so as to be spaced from each other laterally of the vehicle body and interconnected by a center cross member 21. A deck plate 22 is secured to the upper open end of each side frame 20 so as to cooperate with same to form a box-like closed cross section. The deck plate 22 consists of a front deck 23 and rear deck 25 which are independent from each other. The front deck 23 has a rear end portion which is bent upwardly to form a front battery unit support plate 24. A brace 26 is secured to the upper surface laterally outer end portion of each rear deck 25 and has a considerable length so as to extend from the front battery unit support plate 24 to the rear end of the rear deck 25.
A steering axle mounting member 27 is secured to the rear end portion lower surface of each rear deck 25 and the laterally inner wall of each side frame 20. The steered wheels rotate about an axis 101. A rear battery unit support plate 28 is secured to the upper surface of the steering axle mounting member 27 and the rear end of each rear deck 25. A drive axle mounting plate 29 is secured to the front portion of the side frame 20 and the upper surface of the front deck 23. The drive wheels rotate about an axis 102. A wheel housing 30 is secured to the laterally outer surface of the drive axle mounting plate 29. A vehicle body construction similar to the above is disclosed in Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 55-160665.
In the prior art vehicle body construction described as above, the deck plate 22 is constituted by the separate front and rear decks 23 and 25 and the brace 26 of a predetermined height is secured to the upper surface lateral end portion of each rear deck 25 and extends between the front deck 23 and the rear end of the rear deck 25 for thereby attaining a predetermined structural strength. Due to this, when a battery unit of a considerable weight is to be installed in a battery compartment, i.e., to be installed on each rear deck 25 at a location between each battery unit front support 24 and the battery unit rear support 28 or to be removed from same, it is necessary to first raise or lift the battery unit higher than the height of the brace 26, thus causing a difficulty in installation or removal of the battery unit.
Further, since the deck plate 22 is formed from separate two parts and the braces 26 of a considerable length are necessitated for strengthening the structure, the number of steps in the manufacturing process and the number of constitutent parts are both increased, resulting in an increased cost.